Wisconsin Life

(funky organ music) I guess we're ready to play ball. What do you mean by ready? Well, I'm not hurt. (laughing) Batter up! Bob Ruhland has spent a lot of sunny summer days on a baseball diamond. -

Bob

I played ball all my life basically. And he's not ready to give it up yet. -

Bob

You gotta love it, so I wouldn't be here if I didn't love it, right? That's why he was one of the co-founders of the Greater Madison Senior Softball League. Here's my 80-year-old guy, soon to be. How's vacation, Larry? Wonderful, wonderful. Go, go, go, go, go. Get at her. Exclusively for players over the age of 55. (cheering) The average age is now 67, because most of the guys... We don't get a lot of guys in their 50s 'cause they're still working. All right, let's go. (electric guitar music) The League was an overnight success, (athletes shouting) with people calling non-stop to sign up. -

Bob

We had eight teams that first year. We thought we'd get three. The second year, we ended up with 10. Atta boy. Now more than 200 players show up in Middleton every Wednesday in the summer... to swing the bat and stretch a single into a double. (athletes shouting) -

Bob

They come from all over. And they drive in, they'll carpool just for that hour and 10 minutes of fun. They wanna play. Of course, some of them don't run as well as they used to. -

Bob

You have to know your limits, you know? You can't, again, play like you did 40 years ago when you were kids. While the games and the players are still competitive, Tear the cover off! Bob says the guys know they're here to stay active and get out of housework for a day. All right, Keith. It's not always about winning or losing. It's about having fun at the old ballpark. And you never know when it's your last day on the diamond. With that perspective, even if you lose, it's still a good day. (athletes shouting and clapping) What nicer way to spend a Wednesday morning at the ballpark, playing with people that have played the game and enjoy it? We're here to have a good time and be able to participate, just be thankful that we can come out and play ball at our age. That's the big thing I think people realize. Go hard. Go hard! Yah! Good game, guys. Good game. Good game. Nice game, guys.